a  v\n  -  vyi  N5  c,%  P  H  vV 


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LABOR 

LEADERS 

IN  THE 

CHURCH 

By  CHARLES  STELZLE 

THE  BOARD  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  OF 
THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  THE 
U.S.A.,  156  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 

LABOR  LEADERS  IN  THE 
CHURCH 


While  it  is  true  that  a  large  number  of 
workingmen  are  outside  the  Church  and 
haven’t  much  sympathy  with  it,  it  is  not  true 
that  their  strongest  leaders  are  alienated 
from  it. 

It  has  been  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to 
meet  with  the  active  church  officers  and  mem¬ 
bers  who  are  in  the  lead  of  the  labor  move¬ 
ment  in  the  United  States.  Practically  every 
labor  editor  with  whom  I  have  talked  is  at 
least  a  member  of  some  church  and  some  of 
them  are  church  officers. 

I  sat  one  day  in  the  office  of  a  labor  paper 
in  a  western  city,  and  in  the  course  of  an 
hour  six  men  casually  dropped  in  to  see  him 
about  matters  of  business.  I  discovered  that 
every  one  of  these  men  was  either  a  member 
or  officer  of  some  church  in  that  city. 

Some  time  ago  at  a  conference  of  ministers, 
to  which  had  been  invited  the  representative  of 
the  Trades  Assembly  of  that  city,  it  transpired 
that  this  representative  was  one  of  the  most 
active  church  men  in  the  town. 

The  presidents  of  several  labor  unions  which 
I  have  addressed  are  Presbyterian  elders.  I 
recently  talked  with  three  national  officers  in 
three  different  labor  organizations,  all  living 
in  the  same  city,  and  I  discovered  that  all 


three  were  the  most  aggressive  officers  in  their 
particular  churches. 

I  recently  met  the  chairman  of  the  Commit¬ 
tee  of  Adjustment  on  a  great  railroad  system, 
who  was  at  one  time  talked  of  as  the  successor 
of  Chief  Arthur  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Loco¬ 
motive  Engineers.  He  was  then  representing 
the  engineers  of  that  system  and  he  was  an 
active  man  in  the  church  to  which  he  belonged. 
Indeed,  he  said  with  emphasis  (and  in  his 
capacity  as  chairman  of  the  Adjustment  Com¬ 
mittee  he  could  speak  with  authority),  that  the 
labor  problem  would  never  be  settled  until  the 
principles  that  are  taught  by  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  Church  are  applied  to  human  society. 

The  national  treasurer  of  one  of  the  strong¬ 
est  labor  federations  in  the  country  is  a  Pres¬ 
byterian  elder.  He  has  the  confidence  of  the 
entire  association,  and  to  him  was  committed, 
only  the  other  day,  one  of  the  most  delicate 
tasks  that  had  ever  been  entrusted  to  a  labor 
leader.  Indeed,  he  was  selected  to  call  on  the 
President  of  the  United  States  in  company 
with  another  official  in  whom  the  association 
had  not  the  same  confidence.  It  was  quite 
evident  that  the  churchman  stood  very  high  in 
the  estimation  of  his  fellow-unionists.  In  the 
same  town  I  met  another  official  whose  name 
is  known  throughout  the  country  as  one  of 
the  most  aggressive  labor  leaders.  When  I 
saw  him  he  was  looking  for  a  preacher  who 
could  conduct  a  service  in  a  little  church  in 


which  he  was  interested.  He  told  me  of  some 
things  that  he  was  engaged  in  with  regard  to 
the  pushing  of  several  lines  of  religious  effort 
in  his  town. 

The  fact  that  these  prominent  labor  leaders 
are  Christian  men  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not  against  the 
workingman,  or  else  they  would  not  be  in  the 
Church.  These  labor  men  are  in  the  Church 
because  they  believe  that  the  Church  is  a  real 
help  to  the  workingman.  The  Church  has 
trained  them.  It  has  given  them  the  charac¬ 
teristics  which  make  them  representative  lead¬ 
ers.  For  this,  the  workingmen  who  are  helped 
through  their  efforts  are  obligated  to  the 
Church. 


Other  Leaflets  by  Charles  Stelzle 


“Class  Spirit  in  America.” 

“Has  the  Minister  a  ‘Closed  Shop’?  ’ 

“Is  the  Church  Opposed  to  Workingmen? 
“Jesus  Christ  and  Rich  Men.  ’ 

“Not  ‘Missions,’  but  Churches,  for  Working¬ 


men.” 

“One  Pastor,  One  Church 
Hundred  Dollars.” 

“Special  Work  Among  Workingmen  by 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Home  Missions. 

“The  Organization  of  an  Anti-Poverty  So 


One  Year  and  One 


the 


CICtj .  ,  „ 

“The  Plan  of  Campaign  in  the  Interest  ot 
Workingmen.” 

“The  Relation  of  the  Church  to  the  Labor 
Movement.” 


